Skip to main content
Netherlands News in English

Main navigation

  • Top stories
  • Health
  • Crime
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Tech
  • Culture
  • Sports
  • Weird
  • 1-1-2
Image
New Dutch police uniforms feature a broad yellow stripe
New Dutch police uniforms feature a broad yellow stripe - Credit: Politie / Politie - License: All Rights Reserved
Crime
Maggie Lee
runaway
identity theft
public prosecutor
Ronald Donders
missing person
missing child
United States
Tuesday, 2 May 2017 - 13:05

Share this article:

American teen runaway to leave Netherlands voluntarily

American teenager Maggie Lee will leave the Netherlands and return home with her mother voluntarily, the Dutch Public Prosecutor and family spokesperson Ronald Donders said to newspaper AD. The 16-year-old girl was arrested on Saturday for identity theft - she traveled to the Netherlands with her sister's passport - and will be released later this afternoon, according to the newspaper.

Maggie Lee made headlines in the Netherlands when her mother reported that she was missing since April 1st. She met a boy from The Hague online and came to the Netherlands to see him, according to the mother. Her parents worried that she had been lured into some kind of trap. But it eventually turned out that she came to the Netherlands voluntarily to see friends she met online and spent the past month couch surfing. Maggie used her sister's passport to travel, because her own was taken away after a previous attempt to travel to the Netherlands.

The Dutch authorities will continue to investigate the identity theft case against the American girl, but she does not have to stay in the Netherlands until the investigation is concluded, according to the newspaper. She will return to the United States in the coming days. Until then she will be under the supervision of the Child Protection Council.

There is also a chance that the girl will be arrested in the United States for identity theft, according to the spokesperson for the family. "She will probably be questioned, she upset a lot of security sisters by traveling with her sisters passport", Ronald Donders said.

More like this

Image
A Dutch police officer standing by a police car
Police issue missing child alert for 15-year-old girl missing in Tilburg
Image
Child with teddy bear
Amber Alert launch campaign to recognize domestic abuse; "Key reason" kids run away
Image
Politie patch on a Dutch police officer's uniform
Young teens missing from Noord-Brabant village found safe
Image
Dutch police withdrew an Amber Alert for Wendy, a missing 10-year-old girl, Jan. 11, 2025.
Amber Alert issued for 10-year-old Wendy missing in Rotterdam; Child now found
Make NL Times your top Google source

Follow us:

Latest stories

  • Life sentence sought for Dutch-Rwandan man over massacre of 3,000 Tutsi in 1994 genocide
  • 1990 rape case brought to court after DNA breakthrough, prosecution seeks 4 years prison
  • Dutch official joins EU talks with Taliban on return of rejected asylum seekers
  • NS cancelling trains on key routes this week due to heat; Passengers will need water
  • Smog expected to degrade air quality in parts of Netherlands on Wednesday and Thursday

Top stories

  • Dutch official joins EU talks with Taliban on return of rejected asylum seekers
  • NS cancelling trains on key routes this week due to heat; Passengers will need water
  • Heineken board taps JDE Peet’s exec. Rafa Oliveira as new CEO
  • More Dutch households can't make ends meet; Over half of young adults struggling
  • Heat: Schools implement special rosters, Amsterdam sets up cool-down spots

© 2012-2026, NL Times, All rights reserved.

Footer menu

  • Change Privacy Settings
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • Partner Content